


Bonus Devil

by JoLicious77



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26496256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoLicious77/pseuds/JoLicious77
Summary: Chloe and Lucifer spend a much needed weekend away.Dan refuses to allow Trixie to be around Lucifer as he comes to terms with the new realization that Lucifer is the Devil.And as they try to solve a murder, Chloe and Lucifer try to come to terms with Dan's boundaries as it means Lucifer will miss Trixie's 13th birthday party.
Relationships: Lucifer Morningstar/Chloe Decker/Trixie Espinoza/Dan Espinoza
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	Bonus Devil

“Heeelllo Detective!” Lucifer exclaims as Chloe opens the door of her house and steps outside into the Saturday morning sun.  
“Hello Lucifer” she smiles and leans in for a kiss.  
She holds an overnight bag, her hair is down, slight waves around her shoulders and she has traded in her normal, sensible clothes for a sundress.  
“Looks like you’re ready” Lucifer reaches for her overnight bag as they both walk to his car. While Lucifer puts the bag in the trunk, Chloe sighs loudly.  
“I am beyond ready. Do you know the last time I unplugged and spent an entire weekend away from work?” While she sinks into the passenger seat of Lucifer’s convertible.  
“How long has it been, Detective?” Lucifer asks while he puts on his sunglasses and starts the car.  
“Oh I have no idea, I was asking to see if you could recall” she laughs.  
“Well, I’m honored you would spend the rare weekend away with me” Lucifer smiles sweetly and reaching out, puts his hand on the side of her face and strokes her lips with his thumb.  
“There is no one else I’d rather spend it with” Chloe says huskily as Lucifer puts the car in gear speeds away.

They arrive the beachfront property shortly thereafter. It’s a picture-perfect home located directly on the beach, light and airy with floor to ceiling windows and a massive walk-out veranda.  
The sounds outside drift up to them, the distant sound of laughter from kids playing on the beach and the waves lapping ashore.  
Taking her hand, he leads her out into the fresh air, together they step up to the railing, Chloe breathes in the fresh salt air, the wind gently blowing her hair; opening her eyes she stares out across the ocean, “This view is beautiful” she mutters.  
Lucifer has not once looked out at the water, instead his gaze has remained fixed on her, watching how the sun plays across her features and how her eyes are the same color as the ocean. His heart squeezes in his chest and he wonders how it’s possible that he continues to love her more every single day.  
“That it is” he replies, his eyes never leaving her face. 

Chloe turns, looking up at him with those soulful, kind eyes, “I am so grateful to be here. To be with you, Lucifer”.  
“As am I, my love. Now we just have to hope no one gets killed in Los Angeles for the next two days.”  
Chloe laughs and as he holds her close, her head resting on his chest while she looks out over the horizon again she says, “Well, even if they do, I can’t respond to the call if I don’t have a phone to answer.”  
“No phone, Detective?” Lucifer exclaims, genuinely shocked.  
“No, no phone, I left it at home, I refuse to cut our weekend short, it’s the first we’ve spent uninterrupted time together for more than a few hours.” She looks up at him and steps away, “This is more important than that right now.”  
“But what if there is an emergency?” Lucifer tries to comprehend the level of genuineness in her actions. The phone is as if an appendage to the Detective, how she could give it up to simply spend time with him surprises and warms and humbles him all at once. 

“There are other detectives, Lucifer” Chloe chuckles, “so if someone is murdered, I don’t have to be the one to respond.”  
“Oh, yes, yes of course, but I was thinking more of Trixie. What if she needs to get a hold of you?” Lucifer see’s Chloe’s eyes go wide and immediately tear up over his sweet and genuine concern for her daughter so he quickly continues, “I mean, she’s still so needy, who knows what kind of mischievousness she could stumble into?”  
Chloe chuckles lightly, “She’s with Dan so I’m sure she’s fine and if she’s not, well, Dan has your number.”  
“And you think Detective Douche will call me? I mean seeing as how he has a recent raging case of Lucifer avoidance?”  
Chloe sighs slightly and shakes her head, “We both know that it’s a lot to deal with, when people find out who you really are Lucifer” sensing that Lucifer's feelings are more hurt that she previously realized, Chloe changes tracks, “Look, I don’t really want to talk about my ex-husband, okay? Dan will come around in time; but for now, this weekend is about us. You and me. Yeah?”  
Lucifer absorbs what she says and tries to not allow himself to be hurt by, of all people, Dan.  
“Of course” he clears his throat loudly before changing the subject, “it’s still early, Detective but are you hungry? There is a wonderful little place down the beach we can walk to, or I can order in?”

Chloe smiles broadly and steps into him, wrapping her arms around his neck she whispers, “Yes, I’m starving, but my appetite isn’t for anything they serve on a menu”.  
“Oh?” And while Chloe’s hands roam his neck and back of his head, Lucifer smiles devilishly, “Ohhhh” and in one quick motion he scoops her off her feet and carries her back inside and into the spacious bedroom.  
Their lovemaking is intense but also sweet and filled with longing.  
Lucifer registers that despite his multitude of conquests throughout millenniums, nothing came close to what he feels when he is with Chloe.  
She instills feelings in him that he didn’t even realize he had before and maybe it’s that realization that makes his approach to their intimacy more tender, more honest than anything he’s ever imagined possible.

“Okay” Chloe says sweetly, some time later, “now I’m hungry.”  
She is under the soft white covers, her head resting on Lucifer's naked chest, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat. Turning her face to look up at him she smiles broadly, “How about you?”  
“Well my appetite is insatiable” bobbing his eyebrows, he runs a hand over her naked body under the covers, “but yes we could head to get some dinner, if that’s what you want” while he turns his body slightly for her to feel all of him against her warm skin.  
“Ohhhhhhh” Chloe moans at his gentle touch, firm body, “okay, maybe I’m not that hungry just yet” she mutters softly as Lucifer gives a devilish chuckle and leans in and covers her mouth with his. 

A few hours later, Chloe and Lucifer are finally out of the house and walking hand in hand down the beach to the restaurant that Lucifer had earlier mentioned.  
Once dinner is competed, they walk back down the beach towards the house; the air has cooled and with the sun long set and the moon high in the sky, the breeze off of the water brings a slight chill.  
Lucifer puts an arm around her while they walk; pulling her close, “Cold?” He asks sweetly as she looks up at him.  
“No” Chloe replies, “not with you here to keep me warm”.  
They’ve reached the house and together they turn and look out at the vast, powerful ocean and listen to the loud, crashing waves.

“You know what I love about the ocean?” He asks quietly and without waiting for an answer he continues, “I understand them, the waves; they don’t have a choice for their comings and goings, they’re pulled and directed by something they don’t fully understand, we are truly kindred spirits.”  
This make sense to Chloe and she can still hear the twinge of pain in his voice from so many painful years of trying to understand who he is and his real purpose.  
“Maybe” she begins quietly, “that’s why you chose to burn your wings next to the ocean all those years ago.”  
“Yes” he says a slight realization washing over him, “maybe”.  
“You know what I love about the ocean?” She continues “It’s incredibly beautiful while still being unbelievably powerful” as she puts a hand to the side of his face.  
Turning his face into her palm, he kisses it gently. 

“Shall we?” Lucifer asks and motions towards the lounge chairs on the beach. While he sits down, he pulls her down to lay with him.  
The waves clash and bang around them; the salt air is thick and the night is dark; while he holds her close, feeling her breathing, Lucifer can’t forget that she has left her phone behind, invested her time in him. In them.  
“I love you, so much, Lucifer” looking down, he sees she is staring up at him, her eyes wide and wet.  
“I know” Lucifer replies, cupping her face in his hands, “And I love you, forever.”  
They kiss while the moon comes out from behind a cloud and they decide to go back inside for the evening.  
As the sun comes up the next morning, Lucifer adjusts in bed so that he can look down at Chloe’s sleeping figure. He loves that she still has half a smile on her face while she dreams; he feels his heart expand in his chest with emotion.  
Tenderly he uses the tips of his fingers to run across her forehead and cheek before stroking her lips with his thumb.  
“Lucifer” she mutters his name, her eyes still closed.  
“Good morning” He whispers, watching her face while her eyes flutter open and land on him.  
“Morning” she replies, her voice husky with sleep  
“Did you sleep well?” He asks, leaning down and kissing her gently on the forehead  
“Yes” she responds, “maybe I’m still asleep and all this has been a dream, because you are too good to be true,” looping her arms around his neck, she pulls him in for a sweet embrace.  
After lingering together, intertwined, feeling the beat of one another’s heart and the distant roar of the ocean, he presses his lips to the top of her head, “I’m going to take a shower and get us some breakfast, meantime, coffee is already made if you want.”  
“You’re too good to me” Chloe mutters while he begrudgingly climbs out of bed. She bites her bottom lip, watching his tall, fit figure move across the room as he disappears into the bathroom.  
Lying in bed, she stares at the ceiling, she can smell the coffee and the salt air; she can not believe the feelings that Lucifer conjures in her, the way that he cares for her in every way imaginable.  
Glancing at the bathroom door she hears the shower turn on and smiling to herself she decides coffee can wait.

The bathroom is foggy with the steam from the hot water when she enters. Lucifer stands with his eyes closed and face turned upwards towards the spray of the shower.  
Chloe stands there for a beat, looking at him behind the floor to ceiling glass walls, admiring his beauty and his strength, but after a moment she steps forward and opens the glass door.  
Lucifer is slightly startled at first, turning quickly he sees her, as if a mirage, stepping through the dense steam and into his space.  
“Detective” a surprised whisper  
“Is this okay?” she asks, stepping up closer as the water runs down her face  
By way of an answer, he takes her in his arms, his lips finding hers. She puts one arm around him, fingernails digging into his back and another hand on the tiled wall, pressing against it to try and keep herself steady. But it is useless, as his hands and mouth roam her body, her legs nearly give out from under her, but it doesn’t matter because he is there to hold her up. And as the warm water pours over both of them, Chloe wonders yet again if she is still trapped inside a dream.  
Later, wrapped in a large, plush robe, Chloe sits at the kitchen island, sipping coffee while Lucifer goes about unpacking the food delivery that has just arrived.  
“So” he begins, “what do you propose we do today Detective since it is the rare day off for you?”  
“You mean besides each other?” she snickers, “I really don’t know, I mean, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have some agenda to stick to so I’m happy to do anything at all.”  
The anything at all evolves into another long beach walk, hand in hand, a few stops at local shops and a quiet dinner at another beach side restaurant.  
Their conversation is long and easy, full of laughter and tenderness.  
Once they reach the house again, Lucifer can sense that she is slightly distracted and asks her if everything is OK.  
“What?” she looks at him surprised, “yes, yes of course it’s wonderful. I don’t ever want this weekend to end.”  
“But?” he presses  
“No but, just was thinking about Trixie for a second and hoping she’s having fun this weekend” sheepishly she looks at Lucifer as if she’s afraid he’ll feel insecure because she misses her daughter.  
“Here” he reaches in his pocket and hands her his phone, “give her a call” he says easily.  
“Are you sure?” she glances at the phone and then at him.  
“Of course Detective!” He exclaims sweetly, pressing the phone into her hand, he brushes a kiss across her forehead before stepping around her to the kitchen.  
Chloe walks out to the veranda and is amused to see that Dan is listed in Lucifer’s phone as Detective Douche and after placing the call, she waits for him to answer.

“What do you want?” is how Dan answers the phone and the venom in his tone takes Chloe by such surprise she’s speechless for a moment.  
“Dan?” Chloe says into the phone, “it’s me”  
“Oh” he answers, his tone shifting, “is everything okay?”  
“It’s fine, I just called to talk to Trixie, can you put her on for a second?”  
Trixie’s voice comes through the receiver soon thereafter, “Hey mom!” she says sweetly.  
“Hey Monkey” Chloe feels her chest squeeze with emotion, she missed her daughter and loved her more than anything in the world, “I just wanted to tell you goodnight and that I love you.”  
“I love you too, mom & I’ll see you tomorrow” lowering her voice to a whisper she says, “tell Lucifer I said hi”.  
Chloe can’t help but smile into the phone, “I will and can you remind your dad I’ll be home by 5 tomorrow so I’ll see you then?”  
“Sure mom, goodnight”.

As she hangs up, Chloe experiences a mix of emotions, she is thrilled to have heard her daughters voice but uncomfortable about the level of animosity in Dan’s tone when he thought it was Lucifer calling. She realizes his recovery and acceptance of him into their life maybe more of a journey than she had previously hoped for. 

The next afternoon, when Lucifer pulls up to Chloe’s house by the end of the weekend and prepares to drop her off, he sees Dan’s car on the street.  
“Oh he’s early” Chloe mutters glancing at her watch to see it’s only four o’clock.  
Once Lucifer is parked, Dan and Trixie alight from the car as Trixie runs towards her mom, smiling, exclaiming, “Mom!” before throwing her arms around her.  
“Hey Trix” Chloe hugs her back and glances up at Dan who is striding purposefully towards them, “Hey Dan, sorry was I wrong on the time? I thought I said 5?”  
“No” Dan says curtly, obviously ignoring Lucifer, “I got called in for a case and thought I’d wait a bit instead of calling a sitter.”  
“Dad won’t let me stay by myself, I told him I’m old enough” Trixie interjects.  
“Conversation for another day, young lady” Chloe smiles at her now nearly teenaged daughter.  
“Lucifer!” Trixie then turns her attention to him as he rests a hip against the back of his car.  
“TRIXIE!” Dan snaps, taking everyone by surprise, “Go inside”  
“But dad….” Trixie begins, hurt and confused as to why she’s not allowed to talk to Lucifer.  
“Now Trixie” Dan emphasizes.  
Lucifer waves a hand, motioning for Trixie to go in the house and then extending his pinkie and thumb, he holds it up to his face to mock the shape of a phone and mouths, “call me” while she giggles and jogs inside.  
Dan sighs loudly and without another word, turns and walks towards his car.  
“Dan!” Chloe yells after him, exasperated, but he doesn’t break his stride until he reaches his car and angrily speeds away.  
“And to think I actually wore that wretched bracelet” Lucifer mutters to himself.  
Turning to face Lucifer, she shakes her head, “I’m sorry”  
“Shhh, no need to apologize, besides, let’s not let Detective Downer put a damper on the ending of our perfectly, perfect weekend.”  
“It was perfectly perfect, wasn’t it?” Chloe smiles up at him.  
“Yes it was, we’ll need to ensure we have a repeat soon”  
“I agree, but” Chloe sighs and looks back at her house then back to him, “until then, it’s back to reality. I need to get cleaned up and get Trixie some dinner.”  
“Yes, yes of course” Lucifer hesitates for a moment, contemplating as to whether he should invite himself in for dinner; but seeing Dan’s earlier outburst he decides against it. Instead he pulls Chloe close for a long, deep kiss while she clings tightly to him.  
After pulling apart Lucifer brushes her hair back from her face, “I’ll call you later and hopefully someone is murdered so I can see you in the morning!”  
Chloe laughs and shakes her head, “Thanks again Lucifer, for the weekend and for, well, everything.”  
And with one last, brief kiss, she turns and walks inside while Lucifer drives off.  
But his smile fades as he turns onto the street, realizing the situation with the woman he loves is more complicated than he imagined it could be. 

Chloe steps into the house, closes the door behind her and turns to see Trixie standing with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed.  
“How was your weekend with your dad, Trix?” Chloe asks, setting down her bag and sorting through the mail. She asks the question hoping against hope that she can avoid the obvious confrontation she’s about to have with her almost 13-year old daughter.  
“Why doesn’t dad want me to see Lucifer?” Trixie demands, frustrated.  
“Oh Trixie, it’s complicated. What did your dad tell you?” Chloe resigns herself to facing the inevitable.  
“He didn’t tell me anything until he just now yelled at me! Why is he so mad?” Chloe looks at her daughter and sees her hurt and her pain.  
“Oh Monkey” Chloe says before crossing the room and pulling her into a hug. After an extended embrace, she leads Trixie to the sofa where they sit down.  
“Listen” Chloe says, pushing a strand of Trixie’s hair behind her ear, “this has nothing to do with you, your dad isn’t upset with you or even me. He and Lucifer, they just, they had a disagreement. You know Lucifer is, is different.” Chloe struggles to find the right explanation.  
“You mean all the devil stuff?” Trixie asks calmly taking her mom by slight surprise.  
“Well, yes I suppose but also, you know, this is the first time that I’ve had this kind of relationship and felt about someone like I do about Lucifer”  
“You love him?” Trixie asks with a sly grin while Chloe chuckles.  
“Yes, I do, I love him very much and your dad, you know, he’s a really great dad and really great dads only want to make sure that their daughter that they love more than anything in the world, doesn’t get hurt. He’s afraid Lucifer might hurt our feelings and so he’s just being protective of you.”  
“Lucifer wouldn’t ever hurt us, mom.” Trixie states calmly and confidently.  
“You’re right, you and I know that because we know him, but it’s just going to take your dad a little time to be OK with trusting Lucifer with taking care of us. But he’ll get there, until then, we just need to make sure we respect him, OK?”  
Trixie sighs, “OK mom, but I hope he gets over it quick”.  
Chloe chuckles, “Me too, kiddo, me too.”

As it turned out, both Monday and Tuesday came and went with no call from Chloe regarding a case, no fresh murder assignment instead she spent the days catching up on paperwork. Lucifer used it as an excuse to stay away from the precinct, away from Dan and more pointedly away from what Dan made him feel about himself.  
Instead it was early Wednesday when the call came telling Lucifer his presence was requested only blocks from Lux and so he made the short walk to the fancy hotel down the street.  
By the time he reached the hotel room, multiple officers were on scene along with Ella and Chloe.  
“Good morning, Detective” Lucifer smiles broadly at Chloe who looks up from her notebook and returns the emotion.  
“Good morning Lucifer”.  
“Yes, good morning Lucifer” Ella chimes in, grinning from Lucifer to Chloe and back again.  
“Alright then, what do we have here?” He asks clearing his throat and turning his attention to the woman laying face down in the middle of the room.  
“Oh, this is Annabella Rossi, supermodel….”  
“Instagram influencer, New York native with the most magazine covers of anyone over the last 10 years” Lucifer finishes, squatting down next to the corpse.  
“So you were a fan?” Chloe asks trying to keep her voice light.  
“Friend actually, I mean, a little more than friends for a night or two but” Lucifer stops talking, glancing up ruefully at the two women staring back at him. “I mean that was years ago, haven’t seen her in a long time” Lucifer tries to recover.  
“Yeah, sure, anyways” Chloe rolling her eyes turns to Ella, “What do you have so far?”  
“Well, unlike her once perfectly chiseled everything, her murder was not pretty. Stabbed directly through the heart but, look at this,” Ella reaches down and pulls back the victim’s hair to expose her wounded face, “someone cut her face, slashed it repeatedly and by the pooling of the blood, and the blood splatter over by the door,” she motions over her shoulder, “it appears that this was done, before she was stabbed in the chest. She was still alive when they mangled her face” Ella cringes at the idea while she stands back up.  
“So, someone tortured this poor girl before killing her? I mean, not just the physical pain of her wounds but psychologically, the torment she had to feel knowing her beauty, her livelihood who she was, was being destroyed. I can’t imagine” Chloe says kindly, truly agonized over the brutality. “Do you know about when the time of death was, Ella?”  
“Not exactly, but by the looks of things, I would tentatively put it at somewhere around midnight”.  
“What about murder weapon? Was anything found?”  
“No ma’am, nothing found yet, but I have already asked that all the trash in the hotel and nearby dumpsters be gathered up. And by the looks of it, it would have been a small but very sharp knife, we’ll know more post-autopsy.”  
“Okay, well, let’s get whatever video surveillance the hotel has, start to canvas and talk to anyone we can, other people who were staying here last night, maids, front desk personnel, anyone and everyone. I’ll work on trying to find the next of kin.”  
But before they can continue, a man’s voice is heard shouting from the doorway as police officers struggle to keep him out of the room.  
“Anna! Anna! Let me in there! I’m her fiance!” Chloe quickly heads to the door.  
“Sir, sir” she says firmly, standing between him and his view of the body on the floor behind them, “please, this is a crime scene, you can’t come in.” While putting a hand on his arm, she calmly but firmly pulls him back out into the hallway.  
“I need to get in there” he says desperately, “Anna, is it Anna? What’s happened?”  
“You’re her fiance?” Chloe asks kindly as she feels Lucifer’s presence next to her.  
“Yeah” the man says, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking at the ground, “I’m”  
“Trevor McCormick, quarterback for my second favorite football team” Lucifer finishes for him.  
“Yeah, Trevor McCormick” the man replies narrowing his eyes on Lucifer, “I know you”  
“Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar” He smiles broadly.  
“What in God’s name are you doing here?! And what is going on with Anna?!” Trevor demands angrily.  
“Trust me, it is absolutely not related to him” Lucifer mutters under his breath.  
“Trevor” Chloe puts a hand on the man’s arm and brings his attention back around, “I’m sorry to inform you that Ms. Rossi was murdered.”  
“Murdered?!” He exclaims, gasping loudly, “What? How? When?”  
“Mr. McCormick, let’s go to the station and we’ll talk about it, okay?”

At the station, Lucifer and Chloe arrive together and head into the interrogation room where Trevor McCormick is waiting. Sitting across the table from Trevor who appears to be in complete shock, Chloe begins kindly, “Mr. McCormick, I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Can you tell us about your relationship with Annabella?”  
“Sure” he blinks and stares at his hands for a moment, “Anna and I were engaged for the last year, I was supposed to come to the hotel last night but my agent called me and said I had to sign my new contract; so I went to her office and took care of that. By the time I was finished it was late and I got a text from Anna that said she wanted to reschedule because she had a 6 AM shoot. So I just went home instead. I should have been there” he says half under his breath.  
“Can you think of anyone that would want to do this to her?” Chloe asks softly.  
But Trevor just shakes his head while tears roll down his cheeks, “No” he manages, “I mean she has people, strangers, who bash her online but everyone who knows her, loves her. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was extremely kind and gracious to everyone; there wasn’t a mean bone in her body.”  
“Any stalkers?” Chloe asks gently.  
“Yes but that was years ago, as far as I know. You will want to talk to her agent, Paige, she may know more. I really need to call Anna’s mom, can I go?” He raised red eyes to Chloe and tears continued to flow.  
“Sure, we’ll reach out if we need anything. Before you go can we get a quick look at that text that she sent you last night?”  
Trevor stands and takes his phone from his pocket and hands it to her, “Whatever it takes to catch the son of a bitch that did this, Detective.”  
“After looking at the text, Chloe hands the phone back and takes his hand in hers, “We’ll find out whoever did this, Mr. McCormick and if you think of anything else at all, just call me any time day or night, okay?”  
Nodding he silently leaves the room and Chloe watches after him long after he’s out of sight.  
Suddenly, she realizes that through the entire interview Lucifer had been uncharacteristically silent, so much so that she nearly had forgotten he had even been next to her.  
Now she turns and looks at him, sees the shock and pain on his face.  
“Lucifer? Your thoughts? Any sense he’s lying to us?” She asks  
“What?” He looks up at Chloe, shaking his head he continues, “no, no detective, that man. He, he’s, broken. He didn’t do this.”  
“I tend to agree” she responds.  
“How will he go on, Detective?”  
“What?” Chloe asks confused slightly by his seemingly overwhelming emotion.  
Standing up, Lucifer crosses the room and stands in front of her, “Seeing him, this poor man, he’s done nothing wrong but he’s living his very own hell loop right now. And I just, I don’t know what I would do if anything were to happen to you, Detective.”  
“Oh Lucifer” Chloe puts a hand on his face, “Nothing is going to happen to me, but I know, I get it. This job” she lets out a pent-up breath, “you see things that make you think about all that stuff, it’s hard. But I’m not going anywhere. I have my very own Devil Shield after all” smiling she puts her hand on his chest to feel the rapid beat of his heart.  
“So” she continues, stepping away from him, “We need to go talk to the agent and let’s drop by and see if Ella has anything, yeah?”  
But Lucifer just nods and tries to shake the feelings he had watching a man only moments ago, grieve a loss that he himself could never imagine.

Going into the lab, they talk with Ella who is standing at the table and reviewing evidence from the crime scene.  
“Ella” Chloe begins, “Any word?”  
“So far we’ve not found any physical evidence at all, no hairs no fibers and no word yet on if a murder weapon has been found. But looking at some of the photo’s of her wounds up close, it had to be a very specific blade to make those cuts. It’s like the skin on her face was peeled off the bone.”  
“Like a scalpel maybe?” Chloe asks  
“I thought that at first too, but the injury to her chest doesn’t match that, it was a long, thin blade of some sort.”  
“Send me a picture of the wounds, I can ask Maze her thoughts, if anyone knows the details of all things pointy, it’s that little blade loving demon” Lucifer interjects.  
“Yeah okay” Ella chuckles aware he’s only half kidding, “Anyways I had another idea. Look” Ella opens up her laptop and clicks a few keys, “this is the latest post from Ashley.”  
“Ashley who?” Chloe asks  
“Oh just Ashley” Ella says  
“Like Madonna or Sting or God” Lucifer adds.  
“Right, so Ashley is the next big thing” Ella continues  
“Yes, yes, Ms. Lopez I think you’re onto something here. Ashley was the one who was just caught on video trash talking Annabella!” And in a mock, southern, high pitched voice he says loudly, “Annabella? That bitch is a washed up, has been with cankles!”  
Nodding excitedly, Ella laughingly continues, “Right! And great Ashley imitation by the way, Lucifer”  
“Anyways” Chloe tries to not sound annoyed.  
“OH yeah, yeah” Ella says, turning her laptop around, “Look at what Ashley just posted.” The picture was one of the headline of an online news page announcing the death of Annabella”  
“So?” Chloe asks  
“Look at the hashtag!” Ella exclaims pointing to the screen.  
“Now it’s my turn?” Chloe reads and exclaims loudly. Blinking she looks at Ella, at Lucifer and back to Ella.  
“Great work, Ms. Lopez!” Lucifer smiles, “Looks like someone went from supermodel to super killer!”  
“Yes, great work Ella, thank you. And we’ll check in later to see if you found anything else. For now, I’ll talk to Dan about the canvasing.”  
“Yes, let’s” Lucifer buttons his jacket.  
“Um, Lucifer” Chloe begins, “why don’t you check a few more social media sites with Ella while I talk to Dan? See if you can find anything else that will be helpful? You know, divide and conquer before we go talk to Ashley and Paige?”  
“Alright Detective” He agrees, sounding resolved.  
“Okay, be right back” Chloe leaves and Lucifer turns back around to face Ella.

“Awwww bring it in, big guy” but not waiting for a reply, Ella puts her arms around Lucifer and hugs him tightly, “things bumpy in Dan and Lucifer land, buddy?”  
“Well, I guess you could say that” Lucifer says, stepping away and straightening his jacket.  
“What is it? You can tell me, I thought you two were getting along? Dan feeling a little jealous?”  
“Ms. Lopez your insight continues to astound; but no, that’s not truly it. It’s very…”  
“Complicated” they say in unison.  
“That is the Deckerstar motto, am I right? Well, whatever the problem, I’m sure Dan will come around”.  
“Wait and see I suppose. In the meantime, I believe the Detective left us with a job?” Lucifer feels a little twinge of joy that Ella’s first reaction was to blame Dan and not him, she was a bright one, this Ms. Lopez.  
“Oh right, well the only other thing I thought was to check the comments on Annabella’s pages, see if there is any admission or maybe a fan who is overly wrought with grief? But that’s a lot, right? I mean the last time I checked there were already 20 thousand RIP type comments on just her last picture alone. That’s a job for the cyber group, but we can tell Chloe we came up with the plan.”  
“Thanks Ms. Lopez, once again that over active brain of yours is going to be the key to solve this case.”  
“Awww Lucifer, you know how to make a girl blush.”

After leaving the precinct, Chloe and Lucifer head across town to where Ashley lives.  
“So, any success with the canvasing?” Lucifer asks when they pull into the drive of a mini-mansion they’ve reached.  
“Oh, um no not really but the hotel is sending over all the video’s they have, so we can look at those later.”  
“Good, good” Lucifer says, trying desperately to ignore the anxiety over the situation with Dan.  
“Listen Lucifer, about Dan” she turns in her seat to face him.  
“No” He holds up a hand, “It’s okay Detective, this isn’t something you can fix. You’ve said it before it’s a time thing” But his smile is strained.  
“But” She continues, every emotion washing over her.  
Reaching out her hand in his, “Dan will get there and if he doesn’t, well, we’ll just cross that bridge, but I certainly don’t want you to be in the middle or feel like you have to speak for him. Or, or, for me, actually.” Lucifer sounds surprised by his own admission, realizing he doesn’t want Chloe in the middle.  
“Of course I’m going to be in your corner, Lucifer, but you’re right, I’ll leave it to Dan to figure out for himself, we all have our own journey.”  
Leaning in she kisses him generously.  
“Well” she says, pulling away, “Are you ready to go interrogate an supermodel?”  
“Mojo is locked and loaded Detective.”

Chloe tries her best to not be intimidated by Ashley when she swings open the door of her hotel room.  
“Yeah?” She looks Chloe up and down while chewing gum.  
Chloe takes in that Ashley stands about a foot taller than her, closer in height to Lucifer than she is to her. Her hair is long and blonde, cheekbones that any woman dreams of with snapping green eyes and exceptionally full lips.  
“Ashley?” Chloe asks clearing her throat and trying to remind herself that she is the one in charge.  
“Yes?” One eyebrow raised in annoyance.  
Flashing her badge, Chloe continues firmly, “Detective Decker, LAPD we’re here to ask you a few questions about Annabella Rossi”  
“Uggg” Ashley moans and rolls her eyes but pushes her door open, turns and walks into the room as an unspoken invitation to follow.  
Her long legs carry her quickly across the open, spacious room. Lucifer looks around the house with admiration over the expensive, tasteful décor.  
“Lovely” he mutters and Chloe looks over her shoulder expecting him to be focused on the nearly perfect backside of the actual supermodel in front of them. Instead she’s surprised to see he’s actually admiring the Venetian plaster. Chloe stifles a smile.

“You don’t seem too broken up over her death” Chloe says calmly.  
“Oh please” another eye roll as Ashley turns on her heel and crosses her long arms across her chest, “it’s no secret I am not a fan, she was washed up but kept calling in favors to get magazine covers way past her prime.”  
“Favors?” Lucifer asks, his interest peaked  
“Oh” Ashley’s cat like eyes land on him for the first time and she finally shows the hint of a smile. Flipping her hair over her shoulder with the back of her hand she continues, “Yeah, she’s been in the business for like, ever and so she knew she could call on some people to keep putting her out there. She never made room for anyone else.  
A few months ago? We were supposed to do a group shoot for a cover and Annabella somehow managed to get her agent to get us all put on the inside and have just her on the cover. Such a bitch.”  
“So that had to make you mad” Chloe says, taking a small step closer to the woman  
“Mad? Hell yes it made me mad, made us all mad. Do you know how hard this business is? Rich kids of famous parents start an Instagram account and mommy and daddy get them onto the catwalk in Paris like that” she snaps her fingers for emphasis, “meanwhile, the rest of us hustle as hard as we can just to have the Anna’s of the world refusing to share the spotlight.”  
“So what? You get upset, go see Anna to talk some sense into her, things get heated, you fight and end up stabbing her?”  
“What?” Ashley answers Chloe, honestly shocked, “No, I didn’t stab Anna”  
“Not before slicing her face up though” Chloe narrows her eyes, gauges her reaction.  
“Her WHAT?” She gasps in horror, “Someone cut her face? I mean look, I had no love for that woman, but we do the same thing, I could never do that to anyone, that’s just sick!”  
Chloe looks at Lucifer to see if he wants to take over.  
Stepping around her, Lucifer gazes at Ashley for a moment, “You want us to believe that your were jealous enough to have a hate filled rant on video but not jealous enough to kill your top competition?”  
“No!” Ashley shouts, starting to appear afraid that this is much more serious than she previously thought.  
“Well then” Lucifer begins before shooting his cuffs and holding her gaze, “Tell me, what is it that you truly desire?”  
“I” Ashley begins, “I…I…want a cheeseburger and the cover of September’s Vogue”.  
“Not sure those two things have ever happily coexisted before, but good for you for having a dream” Lucifer smiles broadly at Ashley’s confused face.  
“Can you tell us where you were last night between eleven PM and four AM this morning?” Chloe asks  
“Uh, sure I was here with some friends all night. I can give you their names.” Suddenly some of her bravado has fallen away and Chloe feels a little sorry for her.  
“Yes please do so and if you think of anything or know of anyone else that may have it out for Annabella please let us know” Chloe responds.  
“Sure, I mean did you check with Paige? She might know more about Anna’s latest stalker.”  
“What?” Chloe asks surprised  
“Yeah” Ashley looks from Chloe to Lucifer and back again, surprised they acted as if they didn’t know about this yet, “some creep has been showing up at shows lately, hanging around the parking lot and stuff. Paige would know more, she knows everything.”

Paige Greer was in her office when Chloe and Lucifer arrived. The woman looked exhausted and deeply troubled when she welcomed them into her office.  
“Please” Paige motioned towards the two chairs across from her desk, as they each took one.  
“Thank you for seeing us” Chloe begins  
“Of course, of course, whatever it takes to find the bastard who killed Anna”  
“Can you think of anyone? We spoke with Ashley and she said if anyone would know it would be you.”  
“You mean anyone besides Ashley herself?” Paige asks on a huff  
“Do you think Ashley is capable?” Chloe asks  
“She hated Anna but I don’t know if she has it in her to do something quite so violent” Paige sighs, resigned.  
“Ashley did say something about Anna having a stalker?” Chloe probes  
“Oh” Paige seems surprised by the inquiry, “well, I mean Anna has had stalkers in the past but nothing currently” but Chloe feels that Paige is holding back.  
“Do you know of anyone else at all that would want to cause her harm?”  
“I can’t think of anyone, Detective, Anna has been in the business a long time but always had good relationships. Some of the other models were jealous but I don’t know that any of them would have it in them to do this. I’m sorry I don’t have more” Sighing, Paige shook her head, “I still can’t believe she’s gone, such a bright light.”  
“I’m sorry for your loss, I know you’d worked with her for a long time” Chloe comforts her and says, “I’m sorry to ask but can you share where you were last night and into this morning?”  
“Afraid I don’t have much of an alibi, I was at home all night with no one but my dogs to vouch” She motions over her shoulder to pictures of herself and her dogs.  
“Oh lovely” Lucifer says, standing up and looking at the pictures, “Montana?” He asks pointing to a photo of Paige wearing hip-waders and standing near a river with two dogs.  
“Yes” she beams, “I fly fish, I know it’s an odd hobby for an aging single woman, but it is so peaceful out there with nothing but me and nature.”  
“Oh no judgement here, we all have our kink” Lucifer smiles before walking back around the desk to stand beside Chloe.  
“Thank you again, for your time” Chloe says, “we’ll see ourselves out and if you think of anything else at all, please give us a call.”  
“So” Lucifer says as they climb into the car  
“So” Chloe echoes, sliding on her sunglasses and looking at him, “are you thinking what I am?”  
“That I want to ravish you from head to toe as soon as possible?”  
“Well not what I was thinking, I was thinking more along the lines of why Paige would lie to us about a stalker, but the ravishing sounds good, too.”  
“Oh yes the lie, indeed why would she lie about that?”  
“I don’t know but I intend to find out”

Once they get back to the precinct, Chloe is advised that the canvasing has been completed with no sign so far of either the murder weapon or any eye witnesses. Video from the hotel and surrounding areas is not to be delivered until the following day.  
“I’m going to reach out to Ashley for a description of the stalker she claims Anna had, do you want to get started on the murder board?” She asks Lucifer.  
“No, I don’t, not really, but alas I will make the sacrifice Detective”, he sighs while gathering up files and walking towards the conference room.  
Chloe can’t help but smile after him but the mood is cut short when Dan appears in front of her.  
“Hey, I just followed up on the notes you left and Annabella didn’t have an early morning shoot, she didn’t have anything on the books until tomorrow.”  
“But I saw her fiance’s phone, the text looks legit” Chloe says confused.  
“I’ve requested phone records, but it will take a bit.”  
“So either Trevor somehow falsified the text message, or”  
“Or, someone else texted him from the victims phone”.  
“Okay, thank you Dan, I’ll follow up on that as well. Hey when you take Trixie tonight make sure you check her homework, she’s been slipping on doing her English assignments.”  
“Sure thing.”  
“And Dan” Chloe clears her throat and lowers her voice, “About her birthday party”  
“No Chloe, Lucifer is not coming.”  
“Dan, it’s a milestone birthday and Trixie has repeatedly said she wants him there!”  
“I don’t care what she says she wants, he’s not coming to our daughter’s birthday party!”  
“We’ve disagreed before when it came to Trixie, Dan, but this…” Chloe begins.  
“That was about whether she should go to public or private school, Chloe, not over the fact that her possible future step-dad is the literal devil! THE DEVIL, Chloe.” Dan loud whispers through gritted teeth. “Dan, you saw how he was with me, how he has fought to protect Trixie before, you know he’s a good person.” Chloe hates that she’s suddenly fighting tears.  
“Well he’s not actually a person though is he?” Dan snaps.  
“Dan” Chloe sighs his name hurt and exasperated, “I know it’s going to take time….”  
“You know what Chloe?” Dan asks cutting her off and holding a hand up abruptly, “I’m not going to defend myself when it comes to protecting our daughter. I don’t know if it’s going to take time, I don’t know if I’m going to ever be okay with this, this, insanity so can you please just respect that?”  
Chloe clenches her jaw and crosses her arms across her chest, “Yes, sure, of course Dan. But you’re going to be the one to tell Trixie that Lucifer isn’t coming.”  
Dan rolls his eyes and dropping a file on her desk says, “I’ll see you tomorrow” turning on his heel he angrily storms out of the building.

“Trouble in Douchville?” Lucifer asks in a sing song voice while he approaches Chloe’s desk, watching Dan’s departing figure.  
Ignoring the question altogether, while looking at her phone, she says, “Ashley has sent a description of the man she says has been hanging around Annabella’s shoots. Average height, stocky and always wears the same thing, baggy black jeans, work boots and a dark…”  
“Let me guess” Lucifer holds up a hand, “hoodie, am I right? Might as well rename them stalkies at this point, so unoriginal”  
“Yes, that’s right but it also doesn’t narrow it down.” Chloe doesn’t hide her exasperation, “I’ll request video surveillance from her recent shoot locations.”  
“Are you hungry Detective?” Lucifer interject  
“What? Hungry?”  
“Yes, you know, food, nourishment. Listen, the videos won’t be here for the next few days, I have the murder board completed and Dan has the phone records requested, so what more can we do tonight? Why don’t you bring some files over, I’ll order us food and watch you work” His smile is perfectly devilish.  
Chloe bites the inside of her cheek, looks up at him from under dark lashes, “You have the murder board completed?” She asks, looking over his shoulder, into the conference room.  
“Oh Detective, if I’d known that was your favorite form of foreplay I’d have been building all of them years ago!”  
“Lucifer” She whispers but can’t help but laugh, “Okay” She continues, closing the file in front of her, “What do you say you come over to my place? I want to put some of this on my home laptop and Trixie is with Dan tonight”.  
“Say no more, Detective, say no more! Meet you there in an hour?”  
“Sure” Chloe says as he gives her a parting smile. 

Meanwhile, Dan is picking up Trixie from school and still stewing over the conversations he’s had with Chloe. How in the hell she ever thought he’d be OK with having their daughter around Lucifer is unimaginable.  
At least that is what he tries to tell himself instead of indulging in the memories of the times that Lucifer actually looked out for and saved both Chloe and Trixie.  
And what about Amenadiel? How could an angel possibly be OK with Lucifer? Weren’t angels and the devil supposed to be arch enemies?  
Then there’s Maze. Maze. Dan reflects on more than just their combat adventures, but also some of the important and deep conversations they had; how could that be? How could he feel such a connection to a soulless demon? And what did that say about him?  
Of course, Dan realized he could have answers if he truly wanted them, Amenadiel and Maze had both reached out multiple times wanting to talk, to explain.  
But Dan was too raw. There was too much to comprehend, to accept.  
His thoughts are interrupted as Trixie climbs into the passenger seat of his car, “Hi dad!” she exclaims sweetly and Dan can’t help but let some of the anxiety he felt moments ago, lessen.  
“Hey Trix, how was school?”  
“Boring” she sighs and buckles her seatbelt, “how was work?”  
“Well, it was busy, I’m helping your mom on a case.”  
“And Lucifer?” Trixie looks closely at her dad.  
Dan clenches his teeth, takes a beat before answering, “I suppose, but I didn’t see him today” small favors he thinks to himself.  
“Oh” Trixie says sounding slightly sad, “Well, we’ll see him at my birthday party though, right?”  
Dan realizes he is being baited, there was no doubt that Trixie was aware that Lucifer was by no means invited nor going to attend her party. But Trixie is smart and Dan knows when someone is working him.  
“Right, Dad?”  
“Trix? I don’t really think a birthday party with a bunch of 13 year old’s is something that Lucifer would be interested in attending” Dan was proud of himself for the loophole of truth he was able to think of so quickly.  
“Dad?” Trixie quieted her voice, “Why don’t you want me to see Lucifer?” And the sadness in her voice made him look at his daughter, her big brown eyes welling up with tears.  
Shit  
“Listen Trixie, it’s complicated okay?”  
“Why is it complicated?!” She shouts suddenly taking them both by surprise, “Lucifer likes me, he talks to me like I’m an adult and he’s nice.”  
“Trixie” Dan says sternly, “You’re too young to understand, it’s complicated and one day we’ll talk about it all but right now you have to trust that me, your dad knows more than you do about him and I’m going to protect you because you’re the most important thing to me.”  
“Lucifer wouldn’t ever hurt me dad, even if things don’t work out with him and mom.” Trixie mutters under her breath, perfectly aware of the fact that her stubborn father is not going to change his mind.  
Dan sighs and rubs a tired eye feeling more internal conflict that he ever has to date.  
“When did you grow up so much, huh?” Dan asks, glancing at his nearly, teen daughter.  
“You’re deflecting, dad” Trixie says firmly, frowning deeply.  
“Yeah well, one more comment like that and you’ll stop hanging out with Linda too.” Dan mutters.

The sun is setting when Lucifer’s convertible roars into Chloe’s driveway.  
Inside, Chloe is sitting at the table, typing on her laptop; glancing up, she smiles at Lucifer who is carrying a carry-out bag in one hand a bottle of wine in the other.  
“Hello honey, I’m home!” He calls cheerfully, kicking the door shut behind him.  
“Hello Lucifer” she chuckles.  
“Any new leads, Detective?” He asks heading to her kitchen.  
“No, not really. I did get word back from Ashley’s friends that she gave as alibi’s and they all put her at her house, with them, all night. Also, I did get two pieces of surveillance from outside of the last couple of shoots that Anna had and got a hit on the stalker Ashley talked about.”  
“I feel a but is coming” Lucifer chimes in while unpacking the food stuffs on the kitchen counter.  
“But” Chloe confirms, “nothing at all that shows his face; was incredibly good about keeping his head down. Good news is, it proves that Ashley was not making up the stalker bad news is…”  
“That the kindly fly-fishing assistant lied to us” Lucifer finishes with fascination in his voice.  
“Yes, but why?” Chloe asks distractedly.  
“Great question” Lucifer responds, “one that we will find out, I promise” setting a half full wine glass down in front of her, he slides into the seat near hers. 

Reaching for the wine glass, Chloe arches a brow, “Well, I do have one other person to question about the victim”  
“Oh? Do tell, Detective” while he takes a sip of wine himself.  
“You” She nods to him and watches his look of surprise.  
“Me? I didn’t know her, I mean, I knew her but I didn’t know her” Lucifer tries to recover and by Chloe’s silence he realizes she’s enjoying how flustered he is, “Detective” he begins firmly, “The last time I saw the lovely Annabella was nearly 3 years ago and we didn’t exactly have deep and meaningful conversation. All I knew about her was what anyone can know about her from following her social media.”  
“Well now, you knew slightly more than that though, right?” The corner of her mouth twitches, amused to watch his discomfort.  
“I know I have somewhat of a…colorful past but that is just it, a past.”  
“So there isn’t anything about her that you can share that would help the case?” Chloe presses, partially out of her civic duty as an officer of the law and partially out of slightly curious girlfriend.  
“No, no. Like I said it’s been years since I last saw her, all I do know is that she lived an extremely clean, aka, boring life. She didn’t drink, smoke, do any drugs, was heavy into yoga and survived on chewing gum and the occasional plate of lettuce. But Trevor, her fiancé was right, she was a very nice person with a laser focus on work. Never took a break, traveled nonstop and never met a camera she didn’t love.”  
“So how would she have time for a relationship?” Chloe asks suddenly having a realization.  
“What do you mean detective?” Lucifer asks squinting at her  
“I mean, if what everyone says, that she was focused and driven and obsessed with work, how did she make time for a healthy relationship?”  
“So you think that Trevor was jealous of her work life and killed her?” Lucifer sounds confused as he reflects on the grieving man they spoke to hours before.  
“It wouldn’t be the first time” Chloe says taking another sip of wine  
“But his grief seemed so genuine” Lucifer says honestly.  
“Yeah” Chloe sighs and leans back in her seat feeling defeated.  
“Right, lets revisit all of this in a bit, in the meantime, I brought sushi.” Lucifer crosses the room and brings back two plates.

After eating together, Chloe looks at Lucifer and smiles kindly, “Thank you, Lucifer”  
“Oh well I will admit I didn’t actually make the sushi, just picked it up, but you’re welcome” Grinning at her.  
“Not for the sushi, well, not just for the sushi, but for, for…”  
“The murder board? It was the murder board wasn’t it?”  
Chuckling, Chloe takes his face in her hands, “Yes Lucifer, the murder board and your patience with this whole Trixie thing and your incredible partnership, for always having my back.”  
“And your front these days, Detective” He bobs an eyebrow.  
Tossing her head back, Chloe laughs heartily, “Yes I suppose that too, Lucifer”  
“So” he says, standing and taking her hand, pulling her out of her chair, “Can I convince you to take a bit of a more extended break?”  
Standing, Chloe wraps her arms around his neck and presses her body close to him, “You don’t need to ever convince me, Lucifer. If ever you’ll have me, I’m yours”  
But her words are cut off by his mouth covering hers for a deep and lingering kiss.  
“How much time do we have?” Lucifer asks between kisses as Chloe takes a little jump and wraps her legs around his waist while he walks towards the stairs to her room.  
“However long we want, Trix isn’t home until tomorrow night” Chloe manages as they crash into her bedroom and he lays her down on her bed.  
Their lovemaking is slow and quiet and passionate. Lucifer never grows tired of her little noises, and whispers as he does whatever he can to bring her to the brink of ecstasy. And Chloe feels the same, she is sure that the things he whispers to her in passion are true, the way she seems to satisfy him repeatedly makes her believe what they have is more real than anything either of them have ever known. 

A while later, both of them disheveled, curled into one another beneath the covers, he holds her tightly to him, “You know it’s different, right?” Lucifer asks quietly.  
“What?” She asks sleepily, looking up at him  
“My past, you know, Annabella and such, you know it’s different? That I’m different?”  
“Yes of course” Chloe says sweetly  
“But I mean, I had a lot of…of…encounters before us, I mean”  
“Say ‘a lot’ one more time Lucifer” Chloe deadpans  
“Touché” Lucifer says and sitting up a little more, he turns towards Chloe, “it’s not just that all those encounters were meaningless physical entanglements, but none of them were as satisfying as what we have.”  
“I know” Chloe says calmly, smiling at him, “And as intimidating as it was, standing in a supermodels home today with you, knowing she was looking at you like that cheeseburger she so truly desires, I still knew I had nothing to worry about. I knew that even if you did admire her assets”  
“Her Italian drapery was truly exceptional and by drapery I do mean the actual drapes hanging from those floor to ceiling windows”  
Chloe chuckles while Lucifer continues, “But honestly, Detective, look at me. I’m sleeping in the suburbs right now, the suburbs. If that isn’t enough to show my personal growth I don’t know what is”  
“You’re ridiculous” Chloe laughs, “And it’s not the suburbs, it’s the suburbs adjacent but I do appreciate the sacrifice.”  
“Anything for you, my darling.”

The following day at the precinct, Chloe is pouring over the surveillance video from the hotel when she excitedly gets a hit.  
“Hey guys?” she calls and Dan and Lucifer both gather around behind her, casually ignoring the presence of one another.  
“Look, look at this” she backs up the tape slightly and pauses it, “This is outside of Annabella’s hotel room right at the time of her murder.  
The screen shows a person in a dark hoodie, baggy black pants, work boots and gloves, standing at he door just before it is opened and they step inside.  
“The hooded stalker” Lucifer sighs.  
“But if it’s her stalker” Dan asks, “Why would Annabella open the door to him? I mean, it’s obvious the door was opened from inside, last time I checked a stalking victim wouldn’t ever do that”.  
“So she knew him?” Chloe asks surprised  
“Maybe he isn’t a stalker” Lucifer mutters, “Just because he was hanging around the shoots, maybe he wasn’t someone she was avoiding”  
“You think she was having an affair?” Chloe asks surprised  
“I mean, it makes sense right?” Lucifer continues, “Ashley is the only person that knew of this hooded man hanging around and if you had a stalker wouldn’t you tell your fiance?”  
“And Paige” Chloe mutters, “That’s why Paige was lying about it, she was covering for her client and her friend. Imagine the bad press, Annabella was still working non-stop and if it was discovered she was cheating on her famous fiance, it wouldn’t go well for her.”  
“We all know the cheating double standard is alive and well when it comes to how it’s viewed if a man does it as opposed to if a woman does,” Lucifer picks up, “add to it the fact that she was calling in favors to get work because she was aging out of the business, surely this would have ruined her.”  
“Okay” Chloe shakes her head, “but, who is the boyfriend?”  
“Jonas Sawyer” Ella’s voice breaks in as they all turn their attention towards her.  
“Jonas Sawyer” Dan asks, “as in tight end for the same football team Trevor plays for?”  
“Yes” Ella says smiling excitedly, “I mean, it’s a shame if he’s the killer because he is incredible at what he does, that last game against San Francisco when they were behind by ten points and Jonas…”  
“Ella” Chloe says her name firmly  
“Oh right, so, I did some more work, I went onto Ashley’s Insta and I saw a video of their last shoot and I could see the same hoodie in the background, but on the opposite side of the street. So, I pulled video from the bank that he was in front of and I cross checked the time with the other surveillance videos and sure enough, same day, time and hoodie. Only on the bank one, you can see him getting into a car. I was able to zoom in on the plate and it belongs to one, Jonas Sawyer.”

“She was sleeping with Trevor’s teammate?” Lucifer asks, properly scandalized, “Really had a taste for the guys who get paid to handle their balls well, ehh?”  
Ella laughs heartily while Dan and Chloe groan.  
“Yes but that’s not all, there’s more! Turns out a few months before Trevor and Annabella got together, Jonas and Annabella were photographed a few times out and about together and there was rumor they were an item. But then the pictures stopped and everyone forgot because, well you know Hollywood.” Ella lifts a shoulder, lets it fall.  
“Always moving on to the next hot item” Lucifer interjects  
“So, what, Jonas never got over her, didn’t want her to marry Trevor and killed her?” Chloe asks wrinkling her eyebrow.  
“Or, Trevor knew about the affair and he dressed like his romantic rival, knowing the hotel camera would catch him, and it would frame Sawyer” Lucifer shares.  
“It would work” Dan says, “It would explain why Trevor got that text, either Jonas or Trevor would have had access to her phone when they killed her and could have sent that text message.”  
“We need to talk to both of them” Chloe stands up, “Dan, can you track down Jonas and get him in here? Lucifer, let’s go talk to Trevor. Ella” She turns her attention to her colleague and friend, “great work.”  
“Thanks!” she beams back, “just doing my job!”

They find Trevor at home and he is looking more disheveled than Lucifer had seen a man of his wealth and status ever look.  
After welcoming them in, Chloe begins to question him easily.  
“The last time we talked, you said that you didn’t believe Anna had a stalker” She begins, “but we’ve found that it appears she may have someone who was following her.”  
“What?” He asks surprised, “that can’t be right, or she didn’t know because she never said anything to me.”  
“Are you friends with Jonas Sawyer?” Chloe asks taking him by surprise  
“Jonas? Yeah sure, I mean, we don’t really hang out too much but he’s a good guy. Why? What does Jonas have to do with any of this?” But his tone has become suddenly defensive.  
“Did they have a relationship at anytime?” Chloe asks, looking closely at his reaction  
“Jonas and Anna? NO! No, I mean, they were friends but nothing romantic”  
“Are you sure?” Lucifer interjects, “or did you know they were having an affair and that’s why you dressed up like him and killed her?!”  
“What?!” Trevor shouts, balling up his fists and jumping to his feet, “How DARE YOU! I loved Anna, I would never hurt her!”  
“What about Jonas?” Chloe stands between the two men, trying to gauge if his reaction had been honest or a show of bravado.  
“What about him? Do I think he could kill my fiancee? No, that’s ridiculous.”  
“Why is it so ridiculous?” Lucifer asks  
“Why don’t you ask him? In the meantime, I would like very much if you both leave so I can call an attorney” Trevor clenches his jaw.  
“Okay” Lucifer says, “we’ll go, but first, if you didn’t want your fiancee punished for her wandering eye, tell me, what do you desire?”  
Trevor holds his gaze for a while as tears bloom fresh in his eyes and his shoulders relax, “I, I, I want Anna to still be alive”.  
The admission is enough to make Lucifer take a small step back in surprise.  
“Now, just go” Trevor says barely above a whisper.

“He didn’t do it” Lucifer says firmly as they climb into the car.  
“No he didn’t” Chloe sighs, “Now lets go see if we can get some answers from Jonas”.  
When they enter the interrogation room, Jonas is sitting quietly and looking nearly as sad as Trevor had earlier.  
Taking their seats across from him, Chloe begins, “Thank you for coming into the station, Mr. Sawyer, we want to just ask you some questions about Annabella”  
“Sure” He nods, looking at his clasped hands, “shame what happened, she was a great person.”  
“So great you’d want to kill her? Lucifer cuts right to the chase  
“I’d want to, what?” He looks up in shock  
“Mr. Sawyer” Chloe speaks up, using her elbow she presses it into Lucifer’s arm as a cue for him to stop talking, “You and Annabella were having an affair, is that right?”  
“No!” he shouts, sounding truly shocked by the accusation.  
“We have you” Chloe begins laying down several photo’s of the hooded figure, one being him climbing into the car, one of him outside the shoot and the other outside of the hotel, “on several video’s outside of her recent shoot locations. You see, first we thought that she was being stalked, but considering her fiance didn’t know she had a stalker, something you would certainly share with your loved ones, we understand that it was an affair.”  
“No, no, no” he shakes his head rapidly, “I did not sleep with Annabella, we were friends, really good friends, I would never have hurt her.”  
“If you were such good friends” Lucifer interrupts, “then why all the sneaking around? Why does the fiance say you barely knew each other?!”  
“It’s LA man, we both are well known, if we’re photographed together then it’s a scandal, an assumption that we were more than friends. Her career could be on the line.”  
“But why not tell Trevor?” Lucifer raises an eyebrow, sure he’s now caught  
Heaving a deep sigh, Jonas sits back in the chair, shoulders relaxing, “It was too much of a risk for me, man”  
“Afraid the Team Leader wouldn’t believe you were friends and get you kicked off the team, is it?” Lucifer states, sure he understands.  
“No” Shaking his head, Jonas pinches the bridge of his nose, squeezes his eyes shut, “I’m gay”  
“Oh” Lucifer now is the one surprised and then it all crystallizes, “Oh”

“No one in the league knows, you know we like to think we’ve come so far, but this sport man” he shakes his head before continuing, “Anna was one of the first people I met when I transferred out here and she was special. So many backstabbers and gossips here, but I knew I could trust her; she’s the only person I told about my sexuality and she guarded that and me like a watchdog.”  
“Why all the sneaking around?” Chloe asks gently  
“Like I said, this town, they see us hanging out and next thing you know, her reputation is on the line and it hurts her career and/or forces me to come out without it being on my terms.”  
“And you’re sure she didn’t tell anyone?” Lucifer presses, “Maybe let it slip to a person or two so you went to see her that night at the hotel and confronted her? Things got out of hand? I mean, to have that sort of trust broken would truly be enough to drive someone to kill.”  
“No” But Jonas voice is quiet, calm, sad, “I could never hurt her, she was my only friend. She helped me grow as a person, become a better man” a tear rolls down his cheek, “I couldn’t have killed her anyways, I was with Trevor.”  
“What?” Chloe and Lucifer ask in unison, surprised.  
Jonas looks from one of them to the other and shakes his head, “No, no, not like that, I had met up with Annabella that day and she wanted me to tell Trevor because she was struggling keeping my secret from him, they told each other everything.  
So I did, she convinced me that he was as good of a person as her.  
I went over there and talked to him until way after midnight, I mean he was supposed to meet up with her but he got a text that she had to reschedule so we just kept hanging out.”  
“But Trevor said he was at his agent’s to sign a contract” Chloe asks confused.  
Jonas give a half smile, “Yeah, no, he lied to protect me. Anna was right, he’s as good a friend as she was.”  
“But the video from the hotel” Lucifer pushes the photo towards him, “how do you explain this?”  
“Well, it’s not me, besides, look at those feet, they’re tiny” he taps the photo, “I’ve got big ol’ boats, that is not me.”

“So who knew about Jonas, down to what he was wearing?” Chloe asks as they leave the interrogation room.  
“Ashley” Chloe and Lucifer say in unison while heading to her desk.  
But as it unfolds, Ashley is unavailable, doing a shoot in the middle of the ocean they discover but her agent confirms that she will be back the following day and agrees to have her come into the station first thing on Monday morning.  
After checking in with Dan they learn the phone records are still not back and Ella confirms that there was no DNA or other physical evidence found at the scene.  
“Should we re-interview Ashley’s friends, Detective?” Lucifer asks, seeing the defeat in his partners face.  
“We can” She replies sighing while staring at the meticulous murder board Lucifer had created, “but something is still bugging me”  
“The fact that it’s the 21st century and people still are shamed for what gender the consenting adult is that they find pleasure with?”  
“No, I mean yes, of course that, but about the case. About Ashley. Remember how horrified she was when she found out that Annabella’s face had been cut? It was genuine shock, I don’t’ know that she was capable of that, Lucifer. We’re missing something.”  
“Or someone”  
“Yes” she nods, “or someone, we really need to talk to her and we need those phone records. But!” she suddenly looks at her watch, this has to wait, I have to go.”  
“Go?” Lucifer asks surprised at her abrupt departure.  
“Yes, I have a thing, a, meeting at the school for Trixie”  
“What has the little dependent done now? Told the teacher her mother is dating the devil?”  
“No” Chloe laughs, “no, nothing like that, it’s a good thing, she’s doing very well in school it’s just a standard parent thing. I need to run home and then to the school so I’ll call you later and see you in the morning, yeah?”  
“Yes sure Detective, I’ll see you..”  
But Chloe is already out the door of the conference room before he can finish.  
“That was odd” Lucifer says watching after her.  
Turning back to the murder board he ponders to himself about what Chloe said, the fact that they must be missing something and he has a sudden thought. Reaching for his phone, he dials her number and is surprised to hear the phone ring behind him.  
“What is going on around here?” He mutters, reaching for her phone off the conference table, “Oh Detective, when did I become the sensible one in this relationship?”

Chloe is climbing out of her car when Lucifer pulls in behind her.  
In front of her vehicle is a large truck marked “Party People” on the side.  
“Detective” He calls as she turns and looks at him and he notices her look of shock and then something else, embarrassment, maybe?  
“You forgot your phone” He holds it out to her as she walks towards him.  
“Oh” she manages, swallowing so hard it’s audible to both of them

“What’s that?” He asks, nodding towards the truck in the drive.  
“Oh that’s, just, that’s nothing” Chloe scrambles, “it just a, a, thing” she stutters, “it’s a”, she raises her eyes to a confused looking Lucifer. “It’s the set-up crew for Trixie’s party tomorrow.”  
“Trixie’s what now?” Lucifer asks surprised while he registers that he had no idea there was a party planned for Trixie.  
“I” Chloe begins, but he can hear the pain and hesitation in her voice, “I meant to tell you but…”  
“I’m not welcome” Lucifer blurts, staring, unseeing at the small truck with people carrying out tables and chairs.  
“Lucifer” Chloe begins.  
“Where you going to tell me about the party at all?” He asks, the hurt plain in his tone.  
“Yes” seeing his gaze on her she shakes her head, “maybe, I don’t know.”  
“I understand the reason I wouldn’t be allowed to attend, I’m perfectly aware that Daniel is afraid of my devilish influence on your offspring. Didn’t you think I would understand if you had just told me?”  
“Lucifer I’m sorry…” tears bloom in her eyes, “I just, this case we’ve been so busy and, and you’re right I should have told you sooner but…”  
“It’s not as if I am heartbroken over not being around a gaggle of mewing preteens, but, I would have at least liked to have known, I mean isn’t that what a partnership is? Talking about all, all the stuff?” There it is, finally, a little spark of anger. Lucifer quickly grabs onto it, he knows how to work with anger, so much better than the newfound feeling of sadness. Hold onto the rage, ignore the hurt.  
“I know” Choe says on a whisper  
“You lied to me, detective” the bluntness of his words and his flat tone break her heart.  
“Lucifer,” she repeats, struggling to hold back tears, “I didn’t lie, I really do have to go the school, I just didn’t tell you about this yet.”  
“I get it” He takes a step back and as she extends her arm, reaching for him, he puts her phone into her open hand, “Since I won’t have the chance, please tell Trixie that I wish her a happy name day”.  
“Lucifer” Chloe her voice sounds nearly desperate but he has already shut her out. He takes another step backwards before turning on his heel and storming to his car.  
“LUCIFER!” She yells his name, but he’s already backed out of the drive and sped away.

Leaving Chloe’s house, Lucifer drives directly to Dr. Linda’s office.  
When he arrives, Amenadiel is in the parking lot, with baby Charlie in his arms, moving towards his car.  
“Hey Lucy!” Amenadiel shouts.  
“Family time?” Lucifer asks, trying to be cordial but wanting nothing more than less chit chat and more therapy.  
“Yes” Amenadiel answers, “Heading out to buy Trixie a birthday present”.  
“Of course you are, I suppose it’s okay for an angel to attend the party” Lucifer tosses a frustrated hand into the air.  
“Actually no, Linda and Charlie are going but Dan is still working through some things I guess, considering he’s been avoiding my calls.”  
“Okay, great chat, we’ll talk about you and Detective Douche’s bromance problems another day then!” As he continues walking to Linda’s office.

“Doctor!!” Lucifer yells, opening the door to Linda’s office.  
“OH MY WORD, Lucifer! Can you ever just enter normally? And also, why are you here? I’m on my way out to…”  
“To buy Trixie a gift for the party? Yes I know; seems as if everyone is going. Everyone is invited, except for me.”  
“Oh” Linda says quietly and then sits down in her chair “well, if it helps, Amenadiel has been asked not to come as well”  
“No, that does not make me feel better, I understand Daniels current aversion to all things celestial right now, but I don’t understand why the Detective has lied to me, Doctor.”  
“Chloe? She lied to you?”  
“Well yes! That’s why I’m here! I thought things were fine, well, better than fine actually I mean there was the weekend away, the night at her place, which by the way I can’t believe I slept in a queen sized bed for an entire night. And then there is the way we’ve been working this blasted case, like a real Sherlock and Watson, I’m Sherlock in that analogy, obviously”  
“Yes, obviously” Linda interjects while trying to keep up with the rapid pace of facts that Lucifer is spilling out.  
“And then, today, when I return her phone, what do I see?”  
“I don’t know, what did you see?”  
“Party people” he uses his fingers to air quote the phrase.  
“Okay I’m confused” Linda begins, “I mean don’t you see party people every day at Lux?”  
“Not party people, Party People, the little outfit that sets up parties. They were there in their truck at the Detective’s house”  
“Okay and that’s upsetting because?” Linda drags the word out.  
“Well that’s just it, its it? I’m not sure why exactly it’s upsetting except for the fact that I had no idea they were going to be there!” He exclaims, finally letting himself feel the pain in his stomach.

“Oh, Ohhhh” Linda says with sudden clarity, “Chloe lied to you about the birthday party?”  
“Didn’t lie exactly, just didn’t tell me one was happening! I thought, and correct me if I’m wrong doctor, but I thought that part of this relationship business is that you didn’t keep things like that from each other?”  
“Why do you think she omitted the facts, Lucifer?”  
“Well because of Detective Douche of course, he’s put his angry little foot down and isn’t allowing me to be within a hundred yards of the child, which, irritating as it is, I actually understand, for now.” He adds to ensure Linda doesn’t think he’s gone completely soft.  
“So let me understand, Dan has banned you from seeing Trixie and thus you aren’t allowed to go her birthday party and Chloe was stuck in the middle, struggling with how to tell you and she didn’t do it soon enough and so you’re hurt because you found out on accident?”  
“I’m not hurt, doctor, I’m…confused, angry” He emphasized the emotion he is most comfortable with, “I mean, why do I care? Why would she even think that I would want to go to a child’s birthday party? I’d rather have Maze come at me with one of her blades than be surrounded by a bunch of 13 year-old girls squealing over their favorite boy band member.”  
“Lucifer, do you really think this is about a birthday party?” Linda asks quietly, watching the agony on her friends face while he grasps desperately at straws to try and not feel the hurt.  
“No, it has nothing to do with a child and it’s birthday party, it has to do with the fact that my partner, my, my” struggling to say the words out loud he settles on, “the Detective, lied to me”

“Omitted. And you found out before she had a chance to tell you.” Linda says calmly, “Think of Chloe for a moment; she is in the middle of an unimaginable situation. She and Dan have always worked to be peaceful, loving parents to their daughter, to co-parent with little to no major disagreements and she does not want that to change for Trixie. But she also is always going to be on your side, the man she loves, and in the meantime, she’s facing the very scary fact that Trixie is growing up! She’s going to be a teenager and that is a lot to work through as a parent.  
Do you truly think that Chloe wouldn’t have told you? You yourself just said this case has been a lot, do you think she was waiting for the right time?”  
Lucifer sits quietly for a moment, trying to imagine the position that Chloe is in.  
“I suppose you may be a little right, doctor”  
“Yes, but do you think it’s the omission that has you this worked up? Or do you think there is something else there?”  
“You mean like the fact that I am purposefully being kept from the child by her father?” He sits up straight again, frustration flooding over him, “Why would I care what Dan thinks of me?” He pushes out a strained chuckle.  
“Lucifer, do you truly think it’s about Dan? Or is it that he’s holding up a mirror to show the feelings you still deep-down harbor about yourself?”  
“Linda, I KNOW I’m the devil! And he would have known sooner too if he’d only ever believed me, I never lied to him!”  
“Not about that, but about your worthiness”  
“I’m past all that, doctor! The Detective has been very successful in showing me I am worthy of her, in various positions just this past weekend, if I’m honest.”  
“Okay” Linda says, ignoring the fact that he’s again deflecting, “But I didn’t mean Chloe was the one you may not feel you’re worthy of” Linda looks at him long and hard, willing him to reach the conclusion on his own.  
“Not the Detective? Then who?”  
“Think…..smaller.”  
“Trixie” he says under his breath.  
Linda scoots to the edge of her seat thrilled with his breakthrough, “Children are the most pure innocence of the world and you’re now in a serious, committed relationship that is going to impact Trixie for the rest of her life.” She explains gently “And that can be scary and intimidating, especially since you had such a unique relationship with your father.  
The pressure to make sure you don’t let down a child that you love and that loves you back, is the most complicated relationship there is.”  
“I” Lucifer scoffs, crosses his legs, “I don’t…” but he trails off because he can’t bring himself to lie and say he doesn’t love the little urchin.  
“And, this is a lot of change for you too, so it’s natural to feel overly sensitive, the important thing is that you recognize it and work through it with your partner.”  
“Yes, I suppose” Lucifer sighs his resignation and Linda is surprised and proud that he is absorbing and not sabotaging their impromptu therapy session.  
“Well” Lucifer smacks the palms of his hands on his knees and stands up quickly, “Thank you for your time doctor, as always and enjoy the party” And as quickly as he entered the room, he is gone.

After leaving Linda’s, Lucifer begins to drive automatically to Lux. He wants to drive to Chloe’s and talk to her, but he realizes that may not be welcome. He wants to apologize to her in person but perhaps a phone call under the current situation is what it will have to be.  
Once he arrives at his penthouse, he takes off his jacket and pours a drink, staring at his phone that shows no missed calls and no texts. He sighs, downs the last of his drink and picking up the phone dials Chloe. He’s relieved when she answers on the second ring.  
“Hello?” Her voice sounds like she is exhausted.  
Lucifer thinks of how to begin the conversation and taking a deep breath he says the words that are always the very hardest for him to say, “I’m sorry, Detective”  
But he’s met with silence on the other end of the line.  
“I shouldn’t have gotten so angry with you, I understand that you’re in an incredibly difficult position and I didn’t mean to be so frustrated”  
He hears her sigh a little into the phone, “It’s okay, Lucifer, I know your feelings were hurt”  
“No, I mean, yes but it’s not okay I shouldn’t have reacted so poorly, I was just surprised is all”  
“I know, pulling in to see that and me not telling you had to feel like a betrayal but I was going to tell you when the time was right”  
“I know that, Detective, but that’s not what I was truly surprised about, not really, it was more that I surprised myself by how much it…it…”  
“Hurt?” Chloe adds quietly  
“Yes” he admits, squeezing his eyes shut.  
“Listen Lucifer, Dan, he’s incredibly stubborn but he will come around, I just…”  
“Don’t” Lucifer cuts in shaking his head, “Please don’t try and make this okay, you are under incredible pressure and I don’t want you to spend one ounce of your energy trying to make me feel better. That isn’t your job, besides I already know how you feel. I’m sorry I haven’t been more understanding and patient but I promise I will be and whatever you need from me, I will be there.  
And as for Dan, well, people keep saying he’ll come around because you did, but the truth is, you’re the best of all us, my love, no one else has the heart and the strength that you do. So we’ll hope Daniel works through whatever he needs to, but the truth is, none of us can assume that.  
And that’s okay, we’ll figure it out together. You and me.”  
“Partners” Chloe whispers over the phone, with obvious tears in her voice.  
“I’m sorry I didn’t come to tell you in person, but….” He trails off  
“It’s okay, I’m just glad you called, I’ve been worried” She allows the admission.  
“I know” He admits and then clears his throat, “well, listen, I need to let you get some rest, Detective, you have a big day tomorrow, welcoming your daughter into her teen years. Just think, a few more trips around the sun and she’ll be driving a car, dating a boy, going off to college…” Lucifer muses.  
“OK, OK” Chloe clears her throat loudly, having no desire at all to imagine her daughter as a teenager, “picture fully painted, but yes it is going to be a long day and I’m sorry I won’t see you.”  
“It’s alright Detective, I have things to do but I’ll talk to you soon, yes?”  
“Yes of course, good night Lucifer”  
“Good night, Detective”.

The next day, Lucifer ambles around an empty Lux, hating that for the first time since he’s been in a relationship with Chloe he feels a pang of loneliness. it crosses his mind to call Amenadiel and commiserate, but instead he decides to do the one thing he never thought he’d allow himself to do in this life – be alone with his thoughts.  
While he plays the piano, aimlessly he lets his mind wander to how different his life has become; not that long ago he would have been lounging around upstairs with a gaggle of naked models instead of wondering if he would ever be good enough to be a part of his girlfriend’s daughters life. 

Models. Lucifer thinks to himself as he stops playing the piano and has a sudden idea about the case. Grabbing his phone, he heads for his car and places a quick call to Chloe on his way out.  
When her voicemail picks up, he says, with a smile in his voice, “Hello Detective, I wanted to just let you know I have a thought on the case and am going to check something out today on my own and head to the precinct. It may be nothing but I’ll let you know if it is.  
No need to call me back, enjoy the party and I’ll call you tonight.”  
Sliding behind the wheel of his car, Lucifer feels the same rush of excitement he always does just when a big clue is uncovered and the guilty party is exposed. 

Chloe is listening to the voicemail just as Dan comes in carrying a cake. The house is already full of giggling girls and Chloe is curious about what Lucifer has uncovered but forces herself to think only about her daughter’s celebration.  
“Important?” Dan asks seeing her eyebrow furrowed.  
“What? Oh no, just Lucifer, he said he’s following up on a hunch for the case and going to work on it at the precinct if it pans out”  
Dan fights the urge to roll his eyes.  
“Lucifer’s not coming?” Ella asks, appearing from around Chloe, eyes wide with surprise.  
“No” Chloe answers shortly, “but he is working on the case today”.  
Ella looks at Dan and narrows her eyes, “Too bad he’s missing such an important event” she says firmly before looking back at Chloe, “Did he sound like he needed help? I mean I want to be here to celebrate but should I go?”  
“No Ella” Chloe smiles kindly, “It’s fine he’ll let us know if he finds anything, besides this is Trixie’s day.”  
With that declaration the doorbell rings and Trixie announces she’ll answer it.  
When she does, a man is standing at the door with a small cart and atop it there is a massive, tiered cake with dark icing and small pink flowers.  
“I have a delivery for Trixie” the man states while Chloe and Dan cross the room to stand beside their daughter.  
“That’s me!” Trixie squeals, eyes going wide at the enormous cake.  
“What’s this?” Dan asks already knowing the answer  
“A delivery from Mr. Morningstar” The young delivery person answers happily  
Dan looks at the store bought sheet cake in his hands and feels the back of his neck grow hot as his temper starts to rise.  
As if sensing it, Chloe puts a hand on his arm and moves away from the door while addressing the delivery person, “Come on in” motioning him to roll the cart towards the kitchen.  
While he does, Trixie looks at her parents, grinning from ear to ear, “Lucifer is the coolest” and then she goes to join her friends who are cooing loudly over the fancy cake being delivered.  
“He” Dan begins and Chloe whirls to look at him, anger snapping in her big eyes.  
“Don’t” She loud whispers, “this day is special to Trixie. This is her day. Hers. She and I both are trying to respect you and your ridiculous boundaries. I’m trying to be patient for Trixie’s sake, so I don’t care how annoyed you are right now, you’re going to go in there and smile and sing happy birthday to your daughter and you’re going to respect the fact that Lucifer is trying. He’s not here” she gestures around wildly, “he’s respecting your need for space, regardless of the fact that Trixie wanted him here! So you will let your daughter have this moment to know that he cares about her. You are not going to take that away. Do I make myself clear?” Her cheeks are red and Dan is forced to face the fact that his ex-wife may actually be right. 

The thing that was nagging at Lucifer was based on the security footage from all of the locations and besides Ashley, who else would know how Jonas had been dressed.  
The Detective was right, Ashley’s horror over finding out about the abuse to Annabella’s face seemed genuine so she just didn’t seem right for the crime. That meant that there was a very good chance that someone else besides the police had collected the surveillance videos. It was a long shot but he had the time to follow-up on the hunch.  
The very first stop he made was the bank that Ms. Lopez had found the video that led to discovering Jonas identity.  
Lucifer had to take a little time convincing the bank manager to share the fact that yes indeed another person had requested the same video footage only a day before the murder. Unfortunately, the bank manager didn’t have the name of the person but did have the email address it came from; which she eventually shared as well.  
He could barely contain his excitement over the fact that his hunch had paid off and it was very difficult to not call the Detective, but he made a vow to give her the day with her child.  
Instead, he sped back to the precinct and settled into the conference room, files spread out across the table, he starts to dig in.  
Not long after sitting down and taking a long draw from his flask, Lucifer is interrupted by a young man standing over him.  
“Um, excuse me, are you Detective Espinosa?” the young rookie asks.  
“How dare you? You must be very new” Lucifer stands up, runs a hand over his perfectly coiffed hair and raises an eyebrow at the surprised looking young officer in front of him who is clutching a file.  
“Uh, yeah sorry, I just was trying to get these phone records to him because he said he needed them as soon as they came in” The officer says quickly as way of explanation.  
“Oh perfect, I’ll take them” with a big smile but without waiting for a reply, he reaches out and snatches them firmly hem out of his hands.  
“I should probably…”  
“Go? So I can solve this murder? Yes, great idea” as he sits down and ignores the young officer.  
Taking the hint, the new guy turns and leaves.  
“Solved it yet?”  
Lucifer looks up to see Maze drop down into the chair on the other side of the table while she props her legs up on it.  
“Mazikeen!” Lucifer exclaims genuinely happy to see his favorite demon, “What are you doing here?”  
Maze raises and drops a shoulder, “Figured I’d come see you since we’re both banned from the celebration”  
“How did you know I’d be here?” Lucifer inquires  
Maze’s eyebrows go up slowly, “Really? I do find people for a living. Anyways, figured you could use some company. What are you working on anyways?”  
“Well,” Lucifer begins dropping the latest file on the table, “first, I have to find out who the person is that belongs to this email address” pointing to a written note he’d garnered that day, “then I need to go through these phone records to see where each of our suspects were at the time of the murder as well as if there is anything else in them that points who the killer is.”  
“Wow” Maze says, dropping her feet down onto the floor, “you’ve got it bad for Chloe, I mean, I knew you had those soulmate vibes going, but this, this is….” But rather than finishing with words she just lets out a low whistle with raised eyebrows.  
“I’ll have you know, this is very much about me, Mazikeen! It’s just a new way to find people who need punishing.” Lucifer says feeling insecure.  
“Yeah sure, okay, Detective Devil”  
“Ohh I like the ring of that!” Lucifer smiles devilishly. 

But they’re interrupted by a small voice exclaiming loudly, “Lucifer! Maze!”  
Turning simultaneously, they are shocked to see Trixie standing in the doorway. Before they can say anything, she is running into the room and launches herself into the open arms of Maze.  
“Hey Trix” Maze struggles to keep her emotion at bay, “happy birthday” she smiles kindly at her first human friend.  
“Thanks Maze, I’m sorry you couldn’t come today, but I’m glad to see you now!” Trixie says with true earnestness.  
“Me too kid” Maze whispers with emotion.  
“I didn’t know you were going to be here!” Trixie continues then raising her gaze to Lucifer she says, “I was just coming to see Lucifer, but I’m glad I got to see you too!” 

Lucifer blinks, tries to shove aside the giant ball of emotion that has bloomed inside of him, “Well” he clears his throat, “does your mother know you’re here?” Putting his hands in his pockets he rocks back on his heels.  
“Probably by now” Trixie says sweetly with a bit of mischievousness in her tone  
“Did you just jail break your own birthday party, Trix?” Maze asks equal parts amused and impressed.  
“Okay well that won’t do” Lucifer says reaching for his phone  
“No, wait” Trixie exclaims reaching out a hand, “please don’t call her yet. It’s my birthday and I just wanted to see you and thank you for the chocolate cake it was so pretty”  
“Oh well, sure” Lucifer says glancing from Trixie to Maze.  
“You know what, Trix? I’m going to go get something from the vending machine, I’ll be back, want anything?” Maze asks understanding that there is an important conversation about to be had.  
Trixie just shakes her head as Maze exits the room.  
When Maze reaches the break room, she is aware of another person nearby, walking at a brisk pace, stepping into the hall she comes face to face with Dan.  
“Maze!” He exclaims surprised  
“Daniel” She replies dully  
“Have you seen Trixie?!” He asks obviously fearful  
“I have” Maze replies curtly  
“And?!” Dan says in a frustrated tone  
“She’s here” Maze nods down the hall but as Dan goes to step around her, Maze puts a hand on his throat and in one quick motion pins him up against the wall. The sheer terror in his eyes tells Maze he is nowhere near accepting her. “But” Maze says firmly, “she’s having a little tete-a-tete right now with Lucifer”  
“That’s exactly why I’m here Maze” reaching up, Dan angrily pushes her arm away.  
“It’s her birthday, Dan” Maze snaps, “And she left a party with all of her friends to track down Lucifer, give her a minute.”  
“I don’t care if it’s her birthday, Maze! He’s not going to hang out with my daughter!”  
“You know Dan, I figured you for a lot of things but not ever did I think of you as an arrogant, self-righteous asshole. You think maybe, just maybe, you’re all up in arms about Lucifer because you’re scared to death” Maze takes a step closer to him and continues, “that your feelings don’t have anything to do with him, but instead it’s all about you? Because you have to admit we never, ever lied to you, you just didn’t want to believe it because then you would have to face what it means that you had so much fun doing devilish things with a soulless demon.” Maze is annoyed that she is defending Lucifer, but at the end of the day she has to admit that despite whatever issues they have between themselves, she will never not defend him to a human.  
A look passes over Dan, a combination of embarrassment and shock as he wonders if Maze has the ability to read minds.  
But the emotion passes and Dan remembers his daughter is alone with the devil. Shoving aside anything that Maze has made him feel, he wordlessly turns his back on her and storms down the hallway towards the conference room.

“Well” Lucifer begins, motioning towards a chair, “seeing as how you came all this way, we might as well have a chat”  
Trixie sits down and looks Lucifer in the eye, “I’m sorry my dad is being such a jerk right now Lucifer.”  
“Oh” Lucifer is taken by surprise and tries to hide his delight. He wants to indulge the bashing of Dan, but he has to remember the big picture, his relationships for the long term, which is entirely new and terrifying to him.  
“First of all, Detective Dad is doing his job as your father, which is being overly protective of the most important thing to him. And as upset as you may be with him, and well, as upset as I might be with him, your dad had a hand in making you so he can’t be all bad, I suppose.” Lucifer says ruefully but then quickly has a moment of internal realization while he thinks of his own father.

“Mom said that dad is just protecting me because he’s afraid you might do something that would hurt my feelings. But I told dad you’d never hurt us” Lucifer is surprised at the confidence in her voice, the fact that she doesn’t form it as a question.  
“Listen,” Lucifer beings, holding Trixie’s gaze, “you’re very right. I love your mum very much and I’m not going anywhere. I promise that even if something did happen with your mum and me, I’ll always be here for you if you need me.”  
A slow grin spreads across Trixie’s face, “So since you love my mom and she loves you, does that mean one day you might be my Bonus Dad?”  
“Your what now?” Lucifer sits up straight, shocked  
“My Bonus Dad, you know some people call them Step-dad’s but I like Bonus Dad”  
“More like Bonus Devil” Lucifer mutters before continuing, “Well listen, regardless, I’ll always be here for you, okay? And just remember, your dad is just being, well, the kind of dad I wish I had growing up if I’m being honest, so listen to him for now and they’ll be plenty of time for you and me later.”  
“Promise?” Trixie asks sweetly.  
“My word is my bond, child.” Lucifer responds and then continues, “Alas, before we call your mom, I might as well take the moment to give you your birthday present” reaching into his jacket pocket, Trixie’s eyes light up.  
“But the cake” she utters.  
“Oh the cake was just to show up your dad” Lucifer says with the waive of a hand while she giggles.  
He give’s Trixie a small velvet box.  
Opening it and reaching in, she pulls out a thin gold bracelet with several gold charms, all in the shape of Monopoly game pieces.  
Trixie’s eyes go wide, “Is it real gold?” she asks breathlessly  
“Well what else would it be?” Lucifer scoffs, offended over the idea he’d so anything less, “but more importantly, do you like it?” He asks, embarrassed by how anxious he is with her reply.  
Looking him in the eye, she jumps up and throws her arms around his neck, “I love it, it’s perfect”.  
And as she pulls away she asks if he can help her put it on.  
While Lucifer fastens it around her wrist, he looks at her and says kindly, “Happy Birthday, Beatrice. Now, we better call your mom.”

“No need” Dan says entering the room. He tries to hold onto his anger and his fear of Lucifer, but his determination is waning after overhearing the entire conversation between his daughter and the devil.  
“Dad!” Trixie yells jumping to her feet looking sheepishly at him, “I’m sorry, but I just…”  
“It’s OK Trix” Dan says calmly, “we’ll talk about it later” then he looks at Lucifer.  
“Listen, I had no idea the child was going to track me down” Lucifer says defensively, “but being an expert on rebelling against your father, trust me Dan, it could be worse.”

“We know” Chloe says, surprising everyone and entering the room with Ella next to her.  
“Chloe, Ella, what are you doing here?” Dan asks surprised  
“Well considering someone ghosted their own birthday party, which” glancing at Trixie she raises an eyebrow, “we’ll talk about later, young lady” she turns her attention back to the adults, “We figured we would come and see what it was that Lucifer uncovered about the case.”

“Gang’s all here” Maze announces, coming into the room eating a candy bar, “Might as well get this case solved, yeah?”  
“Maze!” Ella exclaims, throwing her arms around her for a hug  
“Ellen” Maze replies, wriggling out of the embrace, “good to see you too”.

“I’ll take Trixie home” Dan says starting to turn away  
“Actually” Trixie pipes up, “it is technically my birthday and I think we should all work together to solve this, first; I mean isn’t that more important right now?”  
“Trixie?” Chloe squats down in front of her daughter, “did you do this on purpose to get us all together?”  
Trixie lifts a shoulder, lets it drop, “I like my friends, but you all are my most important people, mom. Besides, can you all please just stop worrying about who I talk to and just find who killed Annabella?”  
“Yes, can we all please stop worrying about the child and look at what I’ve found?” Lucifer asks in an exasperated tone.  
Collectively, Chloe and Dan give a resigned sigh and turn to face him.

“SO!” He exclaims, excited that he’s finally the center of attention, “this is what I have figured out.”  
And systematically he lays out the details of finding the email and that the phone records have been delivered.  
“Okay” Ella pipes up excitedly, “I’ll track the email address”  
“I’ll work on the phone records” Dan says taking the file and opening it up.  
“Dan” Lucifer addresses him, “I highlighted some things in those records that I think we need to look at first.”  
Chloe steps up to Lucifer, slips her hand into his, “Care to share what you figured out?”  
“Of course, Detective” He beams with excitement, moving away from her towards the murder board, Lucifer begins.  
“So, remember how we knew that whomever killed Annabella had to also be aware of what Jonas wore in order to try and frame him?” He asks to a captured audience.  
“Yes, and we know it would easily be Ashley because she saw it firsthand” Chloe confirms.  
“Right, but, I asked the bank if anyone else requested the surveillance video besides us and they confirmed it – that’s the email that Ella is working on. So that person, had to first of all be aware that Jonas and Chloe were sneaking around together and second had to find out how he was dressing to imitate him.”  
“Right” Chloe adds quietly  
“So, the person requesting the video then dressed the part” Lucifer announces triumphantly, “and it had to be someone that Annabella knew because, remember, she willingly opened the door to them.”  
Chloe agrees, “So we need to identify the email address”

“Whoa” Maze breaks into the group conversation, “this is harsh. Not too often you see a German fish fillet knife used for murder”  
“What?” Chloe and Lucifer ask in unison turning towards Maze who is sitting at the end of the table, looking at crime scene and autopsy photos.  
Holding one up, Maze casually says, “Yeah, it’s the only thing that can slice flesh this cleanly off the bone but also cause a seven-inch wound into the chest.”  
“Maze!” Lucifer shouts, “you’re a gift! I knew you would know exactly what kind of blade caused this!”

“Guys” Dan steps into the room, “I think I found something; we kept hearing that Annabella didn’t share anything about her relationship with Jonas, but there are a few texts that she did send that seem to address it”  
“Let me guess” Ella states, walking in behind him, “they were to the only other person in this town that she trusted besides her fiance?”  
“Someone who is a big fan of fishing” Chloe interjects.  
“Shall we, Detective?” Lucifer asks Chloe, confident they’re on the same page.  
“We shall” She smiles broadly up at him, forgetting for a moment that the room is full of other people.  
Then, suddenly remembering they aren’t alone at all, she shifts her gaze back to the room.  
Maze and Ella are dissecting crime scene photos together and Dan is huddled over the table looking at the phone reports.  
But Trixie stands apart from all of them, her shoulders back, chin up and smiling at her mom and Lucifer with such confidence it makes them both feel exceptionally strong.  
“Go get her” Trixie whispers to them with a grin and a twinkle in her eye  
“Yes, lets” Lucifer looks at Chloe, excitement in his eyes.  
She replies by squeezing his hand and pulling him from the room.  
And while everyone else is distracted, they slip away and Trixie raises her hand to waive goodbye and the light catches the charms on her bracelet and the shadow of the game pieces play across the walls.  
Paige is surprised when she hears her doorbell ring on a Saturday night.  
“Detective” she says with a broad smile, opening the door wide and welcoming them inside.  
“Tell me” she begins, “has there been any progress?”  
“There has” Chloe says, “We’re sure we’ve found who killed your top client.”  
“Oh?” Paige asks surprise in her voice but also tinged by the slightest hint of worry, “Who?”  
“You” Lucifer points a well-manicured finger at her.  
“Me?” Paige puts a hand to her chest and huffs out a disgusted breath, “Annabella was my top client, I’d represented her for her entire career; why would I kill her?”  
“That’s what we want to know” Chloe says, “you see, I’m still confused myself about your motive, but we do know that you are the only person that Annabella had told about Jonas because Ashley text you weeks ago about a stalker. And when you asked Annabella, she had to tell you and you knew it was your chance. We know it was your personal email that requested the surveillance video so that you could dress like Jonas to try and frame him. We also know that your car was parked a block from the crime scene and your cell phone puts you in that hotel at the time of the murder. We also know that the weapon used to kill her was very specific. Something only an avid fisher would use. We know it was you, Paige, what we don’t know is why exactly.”  
“Yes” Lucifer says stepping up, “What was it, Paige? Why would you want to kill your most profitable client? Tell me, what is it that you truly desire?”  
“I” Paige stammers, staring into his eyes, “I…I…I want to retire” she finally shares.  
“Retire?” Lucifer stands up straight and looks to Chloe and then back to the suspect.  
“Of course” Chloe mutters, “Annabella was still working as much, if not more than she was 15 years ago, everyone says so and that would mean her agent, you, had to work harder than ever as well. But why not just drop her as a client? I mean, it happens all the time”  
“Drop her?” Paige asks ruefully, “I tried, believe me I did, I told her that she had to find new representation because I just couldn’t work the hours we worked anymore. But every time I did she swore she would be cutting back. When she and Trevor got engaged, she promised that she would finally slow down and I thought for sure she’d finally keep her promise.”  
“But she kept going didn’t she? Kept booking shows? Kept making you work more, fly fish less” Lucifer adds.  
“Not just as much as before, but more. Do you know how hard it is to get an aging model onto magazine covers? So many hours of phone calls and favors, 20 years ago I sat back and let the calls come to me but now it takes me all day just to get one job. ONE! And there was never enough for her. I’m going on 60 years old, I’m tired.”

“And Annabella told you that Jonas was coming out and you knew you didn’t have much time to try and frame him so you dressed like him and went to her hotel and she let you in because she trusted you.” Chloe tries to steady the anger rising in her voice.  
“And after you killed her, you text Trevor from her phone to keep him away” Lucifer completes the thought.  
“I didn’t” she shakes her head but the fall of her shoulders tell them she is defeated, “I wasn’t going to kill her, I just, I wanted to just scare her, but I saw her and I just…I just I got so angry.”  
“That’s why you slashed her face” Lucifer fills in boldly, “because it represented the reason you couldn’t move to Montana and live out your very own version of A River Runs Through It.”  
But Paige has begun to cry as Chloe announces she is under arrest for murder and puts her in handcuffs.  
They walk her outside to waiting officers and Chloe requests they take her to the station and book her.  
The sun has set and the air is cooler than it has been all day.  
“Well” Chloe turns to Lucifer, “Trevor will be relieved to know we got his fiancee's killer. What a shame, I can’t imagine having the last face you see be someone you trusted for so long.”  
“Truly worthy of punishment”  
“Yeah” Chloe agrees and then smiles warmly, “and also, great work in there partner”  
“You too, Detective, seems we make quiet the team.”  
“Seems we do, now, would you mind dropping me at home? I rode into the station with Ella and I am beat, it’s been quite the day.”

Once they reach the house, Lucifer see’s Dan’s car is in the dive so he doesn’t turn off his engine.  
“I’d walk you inside, but I think we best say our goodbyes here, Detective”  
“Okay” she returns while adjusting in her seat to look him in the eye; reaching out she runs a hand over his face, “Thank you Lucifer for that ridiculous cake and for your understanding. I don’t know what I would do without you”  
“It’s my pleasure, whatever chance I have to remind Dan that I’m far superior, I am going to take it” as they both chuckle, Lucifer covers her hand with his and closes the distance between them for a soft, lingering kiss.  
“I’ll call you tomorrow” She mutters before climbing out of the car.  
As she does so, the front door swings wide and Dan steps outside.  
“Better go, Detective” Lucifer glances at Dan and back to her.

But Dan is jogging towards them and when he reaches the car he looks at Chloe, “Hey Trixie is still up, I know it’s past her bedtime but it’s Saturday and her birthday and she said she wanted you to play a game with her before she goes to bed.”  
“Sure” Chloe nods  
“That’s my queue” Lucifer states, “I’ll talk to you later, darling”  
“Actually” Dan continues, shoving his hands into his back pockets, “I have to go home and you know, Monopoly isn’t any fun with just two people, so…” trailing off he finally looks Lucifer in the eyes and is sure he sees genuineness there. Maybe he’s making a mistake, but his gut tells him he’s not.  
“Daniel?” Lucifer asks turning off his car and alighting from it, “are you sure? I mean, were you body snatched or something?”  
Dan can’t help but to crack a tiny bit of a grin, “No I wasn’t and yes I’m sure”  
Understanding that her presence is no longer required, Chloe silently walks some distance away.

“Alright” Lucifer states, shooting his cuffs, “if you’re sure” he repeats, unwilling to fully believe Dan’s change of heart is true.  
“Yes, I’m sure, so please, before I change my mind” Dan waves an impatient hand.  
“Thank you, Daniel” Lucifer says gently, “I understand it has to be difficult and please know that if you have any celestial inquiries, I’m happy to have a chat, or would be even happier to send Amenadiel over to you for one.”  
“Maybe, someday, but not yet. Just take care of them” He holds his gaze steady.  
“Always” Lucifer replies and watches as Dan turns and walks away.

The feelings Lucifer has are ones he never knew possible and looking over to Chloe he can see her tears from where he stands. Walking to her he takes her in his arms for a long embrace and feels as if a thousand-pound weight has suddenly been lifted off of him. He is shocked as how much he needed this moment.  
And as Dan pulls out of the drive, he looks in his rear view mirror and all he sees is a man and woman in love, walking with their arms around one another, towards the house where an ecstatic child waits inside.


End file.
